The story in the numbers

53,399 girls have been named Lacey in the United States since 1888, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1984, with 2,399 births — 0.14% of all girls recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 480 → 746).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1991, and the 1980s alone account for 39%. It has spent 50 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,458 boys have also been given it, 2.7% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Lacey

145

371

2,823

20,773

13,852

7,396

6,066

1,803

In 1984, its biggest year

Lacey was the 116th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1984 were Jennifer, Jessica, Ashley, Amanda and Sarah. See all of 1984.

Names that rose and fell with Lacey

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.